Labels are frequently applied to three sides of a package or other object, and this is conventionally done by moving the package or other object to be labeled into a label to initially engage the label on the central one of the three sides, and then rolling the label back along the other two outer sides. However, a more difficult task is presented when it is necessary to apply the label to the rear of a rapidly moving object. Heretofore, labels have occasionally been applied to the rear of an object or package by rolling the label over the rear of the box or package, after initially applying it to the side; and this has proved satisfactory for two-sided labels, particularly when the objects are not moving at high speeds.
It has also been proposed to apply labels over the pages of magazines, but this has not, up to the present been done on a systematic basis while the magazines are coming from the final trimming operation at high speeds.
In the printing of magazines, the final step involves the conveying of the magazine in its bound form away from the trimming operation at relatively high speeds in the order of 200 feet per minute, with the binding first, and the pages of the magazines to the rear. When the publishers of magazines sought to have labels applied across the pages, a number of label apparatus manufacturers proposed systems which would involve turning the magazines around so that the open pages would be first, and the bindings trailing as the magazines were conveyed through the labeling step. However, this additional step of turning the magazine in order to facilitate more conventional labeling techniques proved to be quite costly, with the apparatus required for accurately rotating the magazines being equal in cost or more expensive than the labeling apparatus, and requiring expensive conveyor line space in order to accomplish the rotation.
Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to apply labels across the trailing edge of magazines traveling down a conveyor line in a simple and inexpensive manner, and without taking up unnecessary conveyor line space.